As a species of penance the Mayor and his fellows were enjoined by the
Bishop of Lincoln to attend an anniversary mass at St. Mary's on St.
Scholastica's Day; and the scholars were forbidden, on pain of a long
term of imprisonment, to inflict on any layman of the town, whilst on
his way to the church, during the celebration of the mass, or in the
course of his return, any injury or violence, lest he should be deterred
from the observance of the duty. This caution was proclaimed through the
schools year by year on the "legible day" immediately preceding the
festival. Good relations were hard to restore, and as long after as 1432
the authorities were reduced to publishing the following edict in the
hope of abating the scandal:
"Whereas there are no more suitable means of allaying the lamentable
dissensions between the University and the Town, which are a sign of the
wrath of the Almighty, than the devout supplications of priests walking
in procession, therefore this ordinance is made for the regulation of
such processions. First shall walk the Chancellor, after him the Doctors
by two and two, in the rank of their several faculties, then Masters of
Arts, then Bachelors in Theology, then Non-Regents, then beneficed
Bachelors, then all other Bachelors, then secular priests non-graduates,
then scholars, all by two and two, and all silently praying for the
King and other benefactors living and dead, and for the peace and
prosperity of the University.
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